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It added: "Juvenile gangs do exist in some urban areas, but most young people involved in group offending do not belong to gangs - even if others label them in this way.

''Many young people interviewed for this study resented the way in which the term had come to be used to describe any group of young people involved in anti-social behaviour.

"They felt adults attached the label to them simply on the basis that they were young and met in a group, assuming that crime was their main purpose for meeting.''

The study said the label ''gang'' conjured up an image with which young hooligans might not want to be associated, even where they were involved in offending.

This was because ''they knew from their own local experience what real gangs were and several of the young women in particular had suffered at their hands".

Others, however, might find the image "seductive" on the back of gangster movies and "gangsta"-style black music, it added. The study said professionals working in youth crime opposed the indiscriminate use of the term.

"Some echoed the concerns... that this would encourage young people who offended in groups to become involved in more serious crimes,'' it said.

Joyce Moseley, chief executive of Rainer, a charity that work with young people, said: "The findings of this research are absolutely echoed by what we are told by young people and our experience working in communities across the country."

She added: "Like all young people those involved in gangs look for leaders and aspire to be like those in their local community who are successful and respected.

''If the only role model available to them is the local drug dealer with the flash car and the other trappings of wealth then we have a real problem.

''This problem can only be tackled within the community and by the community.''

Kathy Evans, policy director at The Children's Society, said: ''This is a powerful reminder that the relationship between young people, gangs and weapons cannot be pigeon-holed, stereotyped or packed into simplistic soundbites.''